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AhmadMetallic

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AhmadMetallic's Gaming Blog about Games and Life

NightSky is a fantastic and relaxing puzzler gem
NightSky is a fantastic and relaxing puzzler gem

With a lot of things changing in my life recently, I've been playing games on and off and with a different approach, and I have some thoughts to share about my recent gaming.

Taking a break from the big games

Big Games!
Big Games!

"Big" games are exhausting. They are exhausting for the mind, the eyes, the fingers and the temper. Lately I've been feeling like I've had enough of hording loot, trying to keep up with quests, traveling for hours and surviving underground Draugr gangbangs in Skyrim, trying to absorb the massive world of Fallout: New Vegas, to understand what the hell is going on in Darksiders, to not piss off the guards in DXHR Missing Link by sneaking around with my heartbeat banging in my ears, to try and not forget the tons of shit I learned in Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines after 10 seconds of learning them because the game has to keep teaching me moar, trying to understand why I get raped in Company of Heroes and always seem to be out of man power and armor, to endure the terrible Metro 2033 gameplay and checkpoint system just because it's supposed to be atmospheric and groundbreaking (somehow), and to care about Phelps' shenanigans in L.A. Noire (giving it a second shot on PC this time).

Those are all great games whose torture and/or challenges I've enjoyed immensely and will continue to enjoy in the future, but for now, I'm just exhausted mentally and emotionally. Those games are too big, complex, time consuming and penalizing. They require too much concentration and dedication, it's insane. This includes multiplayer games, I'm taking a massive break from the competitiveness and stress of Battlefield 3 and Tribes Ascend.

So I've been mostly playing games that are simple and fun:

  • NightSky, a game I got as part of a Humble Bundle gift from
  • Renegade Ops..... What can I say about Renegade Ops? Avalanche Studios is the undisputed king of pure video game fun. The joy I felt playing that top down Just Cause 2 gem where I drove a killer car around blasting tanks and squashing fools with all kinds of awesome weapons and special attacks was just too much. The physics made the driving extremely satisfying, all those stunts and turns and jumps and brakes, I got that feeling you get when you're a young kid on Christmas day, it was great. Also, that JC2 engine... Eye candy, yo. (5/5)
  • RAGE - Textures? Horrible. The attempt to have RPG aspects like Fallout 3? Horrible. The attempt to have seductive loot like Borderlands? Horrible. ! The shooting is just BAM BAM BAM so much fun, sounds great and feels great.
  • Dungeons of Dredmor - I still have no idea what's going on in that game, but the ingame text is funny dammit! And I guess the gameplay is all around gay (no, the other meaning of gay) and fun to just sit back and whack mutant ducks on the head.
  • Torchlight - Ya'll know that clickety clicking.
  • Orcs Must Die - I've only played like 10 minutes but I can tell, this is the shit!
  • Q.U.B.E - I was enjoying this cheap Portal game until a Steam update wiped my 5 level progress.... So I uninstalled it :(

Alpha Protocol

This
This "game" has amazing film style out the ass. Sadly, that is all it has.

So during the last 6 months or so I've played 8 hours of AP. I refused to judge the game as shitty (because, let's face it, AP is shitty) because many people praise it and implore players to look past its flaws. So I decided to stick with it and keep playing.

Dude, AP is shitty. I love the universe and the theme. I looooooove the dialogue style. I love the voice acting. I love the RPG elements and greatly enjoy buying toys for Thorton and changing his clothes. I love the Intel stuff with the dossiers and all that.

But.... Dude. This is a video game. The things I mentioned above can do so much before the actual real-time gameplay of trying to infiltrate a base (for instance) feel absolutely morbid. Everything about this game screams "I come from the year 2002." Thorton's movement speed and animation are laughable, the AI was exported straight from Postal 2 because they have no brains and their limbs were replaced with robot parts, the visuals are horrific, the environment is very restrictive when it comes to climbing or jumping or vaulting, and the checkpoint system is just tormenting for a game that reaaaaaaally needs a quick save button.

I'm sorry, I love what Obsidian tried to do with this, if this was a movie I'd buy 5 copies, but this is an interactive abomination. I gave it a good shot. It's shitty!

Real Time Strategy

My favorite nightmare fuel at 9 years old
My favorite nightmare fuel at 9 years old
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